Slickened or siliconized flame resistant fiber blends

Abstract

The invention relates to slickened or siliconized flame resistant fiber blends that are well suited for use in mattresses, boxsprings, upholstered furniture, fiber-filled bed clothing, transportation seating or any end use application where a soft materials are desired for flame resistant (FR) purposes. Some of the fibers in the blend are slickened. The FR fibers incorporated into these blends include both char forming FR fibers and oxygen depleting FR fibers. FR char-forming fibers are those which exhibit little shrinkage when exposed to direct flame and are not spun from polymers manufactured with halogenated monomers. Oxygen depleting FR fibers are spun from polymers manufactured with halogenated monomers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The invention relates to slickened or siliconized flame resistant fiber blends that are well suited for use in mattresses, boxsprings, upholstered furniture, fiber-filled bed clothing, office panel fabric, transportation seating or any end use application where a soft materials are desired for flame resistant (FR) purposes. Some forms of this invention include: [0003] 1) FR thermally bonded or resin bonded highloft comprising fiber blends of FR fibers with non-FR fibers, some fibers of which are slickened. [0004] 2) FR needlepunched nonwovens comprising fiber blends of FR fibers with non-FR fibers, some fibers of which are slikcened. [0005] 3) FR loose fill fiber comprising fiber blends of FR fibers with non-FR fibers, some of which are slickened; and [0006] 4) FR woven and FR knit fabrics produced from yarns comprising fiber blends of FR fibers with non-FR fibers, some fibers of which are slickened. [0007] The FR f...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0067] Although one of the preferred embodiments of the invention is a thermally bonded highloft, it is also possible to utilize the fibers mentioned in Categories 1, 2, 4 and 5 and utilize binder materials from Category 6 to make a suitable resin bonded highloft flame barrier of the invention. The thermal bonded blend (i.e. also with Category 3 binder fibers) may also be coated (e.g., on one or two sides) with a light sprayed Category 6 resin coating to “lock” the surface fibers in place. This prevents the surface fibers from percolating or migrating through the ticking after being subjected to use. Fiber percolation gives an undesirable fuzzy appearance to the upholstery ticking.

[0068] The oxygen depleting gases generated by the category 2 fiber are particularly beneficial in combination with the category 1 material for highloft and needlepunch embodiments of the slickened fiber blends of this invention. In addition to helping prevent autoignition of the decomposition products coming from underlying layers, such as polyurethane foam or the like and helping to extinguish any residual flame emanating from overlying material such as dress cover fabric, the oxygen depleting gases from the polymers made with halogenated monomers also coat and protect the carbonaceous char formed during the decomposition of the inherently FR fibers. In this way, there is provided a significantly longer time before the char disintegrates when exposed to air at open flame temperatures. This synergistic blending under the present invention is thus able to withstand extended periods of time with minimal shrinkage of the char barrier; thereby preventing flames from “breaking through” the char barrier and igniting underlying materials.

[0069] The non-FR natural and / or synthetic component fibers in the slickened or non-slickened form are added to improve product economics and the final softness and resiliency properties of the highloft or needlepunch versions of the invention in the end use application.

[0070] The above percentage ranges for the various categories is in reference to the percentage by weight of a single layer of material (e.g. a flame barrier whose entire thickness is formed of a common fiber blend or in reference to one layer of a multilayer flame barrier with the other layers either also being provided for flame barrier purposes or not provided for flame barrier purposes). Moreover, the above percentages by weight can also be considered as being applicable to the percentage by weight of the sum of various layers of a multilayer flame barrier, in the case of the highloft and needlepunch embodiments of the invention. For example, the highloft and needlepunch embodiments of the present invention are intended to include within its scope a multilayer flame barrier combination having the same or differing percentages of materials from categories 1 and / or 2 (including zero percent in one layer of one of the categories 1 and 2 material with the other layer making up the difference) amongst two or more of its layers. For instance, the multilayer flame barrier can include one layer designed to provide or emphasize the category 1 material and a second layer designed to provide or emphasize the desired percentage of the category 2 material. As can be seen from the few examples directly above, and the additional examples described hereafter, the present invention provides a high degree of versatility in forming a flame barrier, although, as will become more apparent below, certain combinations of materials, particularly the category 1 and 2 materials, can provide highly advantageous flame barrier functioning. Also, from the standpoint of reducing manufacturing complexity and cost, for example, a single layer or non-multi-layer flame barrier having common blend makeup throughout its thickness (based on, for example, an inputted fiber mix blend “recipe” based on the above noted potential category combinations into a computer processor controlling the highloft or needlepunch nonwoven product manufacturing process) is preferred for many applications.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, these FR products have not previously imparted the comfort and / or softness features desired by manufacturers of end-use articles which must be made open flame resistant.

It is well known in the industry to manufacture slickened and / or siliconized polyester fiber blends (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,304,817 & 4,281,042) for improved softness, comfort and silky feel; unfortunately, these products usually have much worse flame resistance properties than their non-slickened counterparts.

This blend will not pass the aforementioned tests for a flame barrier.